Abstract
It is believed that stimulating the inspiration of short video consumers might be an effective way to attract and maintain the attention of consumers so that they are willing to respond positively to short video ads. Therefore, in order to explore the source of customer inspiration in short video and its cognitive psychological process, the text and grid data collected from an interview among 25 short video users have been qualitatively analyzed by Kelly Grid Technology in order to construct the formation path model of short video customer inspiration, and find out its source, triggering mechanism, and influencing factors. It is found that the inspiring informational content characteristics include richness, reliability, vividness, and fluency of emotional content characteristics, fun, novelty, and narrative. However, the characteristics of commercial content in short video ads hinder the inspiration of consumers. The study also reveals that an internal mechanism of inspiration stimulation is built on some cognitive processes (i.e., presence, processing fluency, perceived innovation, perceived convenience) generated by informational content, and emotional responses by emotional content (i.e., curiosity, surprise, enjoyment, etc.). In addition, it is shown that personal involvement enhances the relationship between the inspiring content characteristics and consumer inspiration. As a result, customer inspiration and engagement in short video ads are highly enriched. Findings provide implications for short video platforms and online marketers.